Bare root strawberries (shelf life, indoor life - to survive in the frost, ready to plant outside)?

 Hi,

Yesterday, I bought a bag of “bare root strawberries” from my local
Lowes.  It contains 10 bare-root plants.

I am trying to find out what is the option for me;

Option 1: (a) Keep in shelf indoor for x days.  then(b) Plant in a pot
indoor & keep for y days.  then(c) Transplant to outside bed by last
frost date minus z days.
Option 2: (a) Today, plant in a pot indoor.  then(b) Transplant to
outside bed by last frost date minus z days.
Option 3: (a) Today, keep in a shelf indoor.  then(b) Transplant to
outside bed by last frost date minus z days.
Option 4: (a) Today directly plant outside bed.
Option 5: /OR/ any other better way to handle this

Here, I do not know what could be the x, y, z days as well.  So, if
you can provide me that detail too it would be great.

I just don’t want to kill this plant.  Please help me.

Thanks
Ganesh

Date: Feb 23, 2009  Weather: Low: 15 F, High: 31 F
March begins with the average of Low: 25 F, High: 50 F

Zip: 45040, Ohio
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 6
Expected Last Frost date (frost free date) is Apr 15 to May 15

 In article


 You seem to be concerned about too many variables.  Nothing wrong with
killing plants on the learning curve.  Still I see your question and
would suggest that you speak with folks in your area.  

Charlie would be a source of  good info.

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA




 

 On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:52:49 -0800 (PST), gar_newbie


I would store them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag after
thoroughly wetting their roots and plant closer to the last frost
date.  Some say you can store for a couple weeks.  I have stored them
for a month.  I kept the roots moist and left the bags slightly open
to provide circulation and prevent midew/mold problems, re-wetting the
roots as necessary

I've done the same with asparagus crowns.

You could warm your soil next month by covering the area with clear
plastic and plant some ahead of the frost date, mulching well, and
cover your plants with, say, plastic milk cartons if the nightime
temps get too low.  Be sure and remove the covers when the temps rise
in order to not cook yer berry plants.

Others may have other ideas, this is just my experience.

--
Charlie

"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a
mistake when you make it again."    --  Franklin P. Jones

 On Feb 23, 7:17 pm, Charlie wrote:

Howdy, Madgardener here (just call me Maddie <gbseg>)
Having worked at Lowe's in the past, I'd soak the bare root plants in
warm water and then pot them up.  Kompost Kow is the best soil you can
find from Lowe's, unless you can find a source for Michigan Peat or
Garden Magic at your local Co-op or Farm supply store.  Not all
Miracle Gro is good stuff. And Lowe's cheap stuff is crap.  Kompost
Kow is good as it IS mature manure.  If you have any used nursery
pots, these will work.  If not, depending on what you have lying
around, you can fill any used container with soil provided that it has
ample drainage.  You won't need the soil to be deep.  I've used 5
gallon buckets very well as permanent containers before. I just
drilled holes in the bottom and then poured small rock that I got in
the lumber department of Lowe's. (It's cheaper than the landscaping
bags of rock, having said that, BROKEN BAGS at Lowe's are ALWAYS 50%
off!!) so if you found busted bags of rocks, or even Kompost Kow,
you're in business!!

Pour at least six inches of soil into a good sized container.  the
soaked strawberries can then be teased apart, and taking each plant,
splay out the roots and sit them on top of the soil, green part up of
course. <G>  you can plant them as close together in a large container
as six inches apart.  If you don't want to do a large container, you
COULD go into the nursery at Lowe's, and ask the person for a
discarded flat or two and fill those with soil. They'd be GLAD to GIVE
you a couple.

Splay these plants out, then sprinkle the composted soil over just the
roots. Don't bury the green pointy bit with dirt. Strawberries are
runner plants as you know.  Water them with warm water and sprinkle a
bit more if the dirt settles too much.  If you have a cold garage that
has a window, great.  Set the flats of plants there.  If not, out on
the porch is fine.  Strawberries are perennials, after all and they
won't mind the cold.  If you use a discarded flat, the drainage is
there. Once true spring comes, you can gently lift the rooted
strawberries and tuck them into a sunny bed of your choosing.  As the
mother plants make runners, put them where you want them, and pinch
the blossoms off to make the roots feed the leaves. They'll make
blossoms again. It's better to establish the plants first and berries
later.  The daughters will fill up the spaces, and once established,
you can see in a year or so, that the mother plant needs to be taken
out, and the daughter's daughters encouraged.  It's an awesome thing
to have a strawberry patch.  My good thoughts to you. Keep us posted
on your success and failures if you have any. (mulch underneath the
strawberry plants once you plant them in the ground in your bed with
pine straw to keep them up off the soil and discouraging the diseases
and easier to spot slugs and snails that adore the berries.  A neat
trick once you start getting berries is to put those plastic cartons
you get at the store over the plants to keep the birds from stealing
your berries as well. I secure those clear berry or cherry tomato
boxes with old fashioned hair pins I get from the dollar store.  if
not hairpins, then cut wire clothes hangers cut and bent into "hair
pin shape".  Good luck!  happy gardening

maddie, gardening in downtown Greeneville, in a green bowl, surrounded
by the Cherokee National Forest and Appalachian Mountains, zone 7a,
Sunset zone 36

 On Feb 24, 2:49 pm, madgarden...@yahoo.com wrote:

Thanks for your suggestion.  I could save 1/3 of my plants by
following this:

<copy-paste>

If the plants arrive before they can be planted, you have two storage
options:

1. heeling in (temporary planting)
2. refrigeration

1. To heel in plants, remove them from the shipping bags immediately
on arrival. Using a spade, dig a V-shaped trench 6 to 8 inches deep in
a cool location. Lay the strawberry plants 2 inches apart along one
side of the trench, perpendicular to the trench length. Fill the
trench with soil and then water the plants thoroughly. You can keep
plants this way for several weeks.